I Want To Go Out Tonight
by StephLynn0803
Summary: A girl named Elaina is sent away to a mental rehabilitation clinic for teens. Please feel free to review! There are more chapters to come!
1. I Want To Go Out Tonight

1

I WANT TO GO OUT TONIGHT

Elaina Wolfe walked up her brick walkway to her front door and took out her key. She thought about how _wonderful_ her father was for not leaving any lights on for her.

As Elaina walked through the wood door, she heard glass crashing and loud voices coming from upstairs. Her parents must be in a fight. Again. How many fights can one couple possibly have?

"Honestly, Michael, how are we supposed to deal with another set-back like this?" Elizabeth Wolfe, Elaina's mother yelled, running down the stairs.

"Elizabeth, for the last time it is not my fault. I'll make up for it," Elaina's father, Michael Wolfe, followed.

"How? How could anything possibly make up for this?" Elizabeth looked up at him.

"Um, guys?" Elaina said quietly.

"What?" her parents yelled simultaneously, making Elaina jump.

"I just wanted to ask you what was for dinner," she said tentatively.

"Nothing. Thanks to your father we might as well all starve," Elizabeth said, stomping into her study and slamming the door.

Michael sighed. "And where have you been all day?" His tone was hard and slightly belligerent.

"I went to the Nikon store. I got this really nice –"

"You went to get a camera? You were supposed to be at the library studying," Michael yelled.

"Dad, I did. I was there all day. I just stopped there on my way home." Elaina tried to stay calm, but there was only so much she would take.

"You wasted an hour of your study time to get a stupid camera, Elaina? I expect you to be serious about your work."

"It's not a stupid camera, and I am serious. I didn't think it was an issue. I'm sorry." Elaina put her hand in her pocket and gave him the finger. This was her way of calming down.

"It's really sad that you can't even comprehend what you did wrong. That's disappointing."

Elaina rolled her eyes and marched into the kitchen. She sat down at the island chair and tried to breathe, telling herself to not let him get to her. Just as her pulse was starting to go back to its normal speed, her father stormed into the room. Of course.

"You have no right to be upset with me. I have done nothing wrong," Michael roared.

"Who are you trying to convince? Yourself or me? Either way you aren't doing a very good job," Elaina countered, taking a bite of an apple.

Michael's face turned bright red. "Go to your room," he bellowed. "Now."

"No. I think I'll go somewhere a little less crazy than this place. Like Cirque du Soleil!"

Elaina grabbed her purse and new camera and sauntered to the hall. She threw her apple over her shoulder and heard it bounce on the floor as she slammed the front door behind her.

Elaina sped away in her yellow Porsche Boxter and blasted the radio. All she had to do was figure out where to go. She thought for a moment. She wished she actually could be in Cirque du Soleil. But then she thought of the next best thing. After all, she had her credit card and her fake ID was in her wallet. Why not splurge?

She pulled into a Forever 21 and picked out a tight pink tank-top, black leather skinnies that looked like they had been painted onto her legs, and strappy high heels. Now, onward to the local bar.

Elaina rode around until she found a place called Jade Nightly. She parked about a block away and made sure to lock her car. She took out her fake ID and showed it to the bouncer. He let her in even though he barely looked at her card.

The place was crawling with hot older boys and the smell of liquor polluted the air. She thought she saw a few boys from school there, but she couldn't be sure.

Elaina went straight to the bar and ordered a Bud Light. After she chugged her first one, she immediately asked for another. She downed another beer, a few vodka shots, and spiked punch.

"Hey," a voice said.

Elaina looked around the room, nearly falling off her bar stool. She realized there was a girl sitting right next to her. She tried to focus her vision. The girl was wearing a short leopard print dress with red pumps. She had short curly blonde hair. It looked so healthy and bouncy. Elaina looked at her own hair: long, brunette, and stringy. She hadn't had time to re-straighten it like she normally would have.

"Hi," Elaina said too loud. She hiccupped.

"I'm Carla. I'm new in town," the girl said, reaching out her hand.

"I'm…Elaina," she slurred, almost forgetting her own name. She shook the girl's hand and took another sip of her punch.

"That's such a pretty name."

"Thanks."

"And I just love your top," Carla said, grabbing at the bottom of Elaina's shirt.

"Thanks. I like your dress."

"Thank you. It was my sister's, but she hardly wears it anymore." She smiled. "Do you want to dance?"

Elaina knew that she should be a little creeped out by this whole thing, but she went along with it. She was too drunk to care.

Carla pulled Elaina out onto the dance floor. The two danced wildly together. Elaina hardly knew where she was or what she was even doing. All she knew was that she was dancing, and she loved to dance.

The dance session grew wilder and the room began to spin. Suddenly, Elaina felt soft lips on hers and the whole bar began to cheer. It took her a few moments to realize that Carla was kissing her. As soon as she knew what was going on, she pushed Carla away.

"What the hell?" Elaina screamed.

Carla just looked at her. "What?"

"You _kissed_ me."

"I'm sorry. I should not have done that?" Carla look embarrassed.

"No." Elaina felt light headed. The crowd was still cheering and made Elaina's headache even worse. The floor seemed to have come up and hit Elaina in the head. Before knew it, she was on the floor.

"Elaina! Are you okay?" Carla kneeled beside her.

Elaina heard the crowd laughing and chanting for them to make out on the floor. Elaina groaned and tried to get up. She heard familiar voices and extra hands were trying to help her sit up.

Elaina looked up. Her friends Lindsay Gilbert and Mandy Davis were looking down at her. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but they lifted her and they all stumbled into the bathroom where they sat Elaina down next to the sink.

"Get off me. I'm fine," Elaina insisted.

"Mandy go get a cold paper towel or something," Lindsay said.

"I don't need it." Elaina tried to get up, but her knees gave out and she fell back on her butt.

"Stop. Sit down," Lindsay said, sternly. Mandy handed her the towel and Lindsay stuck it down Elaina's bra.

Elaina jumped and tried to grab the towel. "Lindsay! What did you do that for?"

"You have to wake up."

"Elaina, I'm really sorry. I just thought…" Carla pleaded.

"No, it's fine. It was probably my fault anyway," Elaina sighed. "Guys, this is Carla. We just met tonight. We had fun." Elaina smiled at Carla, feeling sorry for her.

Lindsay and Mandy introduced themselves to Carla and they all decided that Elaina had to get out of there.

"Okay, c'mon," Mandy said, helping Elaina to her feet. The girls walked to Lindsay's white Compact Coupe Hybrid Concept and got Elaina into the car.

"What about my car?" Elaina slurred.

"Is it locked?" Lindsay asked.

"Yes."

"We'll get it in the morning."

"Hey, Elaina?" Carla walked up to the window. "I'm really sorry."

"It's really okay, Carla. Maybe I'll see you around." Elaina forced a smile.

"It was nice to meet you!" Mandy said. Then they sped off into the night.

Elaina had no sense of time as they drove to Lindsay's house. It could have been two hours before they got to her driveway. The car light went on when Lindsay opened her driver's door. Elaina squinted.

"Turn that off!" she yelled.

"Nope," Lindsay said, helping Elaina out of the car and onto her feet. "Mandy help!"

The girls got into the house and laid Elaina out on the couch. Elaina passed out as soon as she hit the cushion. Awhile later, a massive headache woke her up.

"Oh my gosh," she squealed, sitting up too fast, making herself dizzy. "Ugh."

"Oh good, you're up," Mandy said, setting a bowl of oatmeal in front of her on the coffee table. Lindsay placed a mug of coffee next to the oatmeal. "Eat."

The girls sat down and watched as Elaina ate. It turns out she had been asleep for three hours. It was now two in the morning.

"So," Elaina began nervously, "did you guys see much?"

"Well, yes…" Lindsay said.

"Was it bad?"

"Not to make you feel bad or anything, but yeah." Mandy joined the conversation.

Elaina moaned. "What did I do?"

"Well, you were grinding with that Carla girl. A lot. And then you started screaming that you had a purple dog named Bobo at your very own circus in Canada," Mandy explained.

"Then you got onto the bar counter and started dancing like a crazy person until you decided to go crowd surfing. The guys in there were all over you, but you pushed them away to go be with Carla. You were pulling her dress strap off her shoulder when she kissed you," Lindsay continued.

"Holy crap. How do I not remember anything but her kissing me?" Elaina asked in disbelief. "And why didn't you guys stop me?"

Lindsay and Mandy looked at each other, then back at Elaina and shrugged their shoulders.

"Thanks." Elaina finished her oatmeal and downed her coffee. She felt a lot better, but still was in no shape to do anything that required standing. Just as soon as she thought her headache was gone, her cell phone rang. Her head pounded. She reached into her purse and answered it just to make the awful noise stop.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Where the hell are you?" her mother's voice boomed through the speaker.

"Lindsay's."

"When did you leave?"

"Hours ago. Why are you calling me now?"

"Because I…I don't have to explain myself to you. But you better come home first thing in the morning! You are in a lot of trouble, young lady!" her mother said quickly.

"What for this time?" Elaina sighed.

"Don't play dumb. I talked to your father. I know what happened between you two and you better be ready for some major restrictions."

"Yeah, okay. Have a good night. Goodbye." Elaina hung up. _Really?_ She wanted to crawl under a rock.

"What was that?" Mandy asked.

"My mom. I'm trouble for wasting study time and talking back to my dad."

Lindsay laughed. "I'll get the earplugs."

"I'll need them. I can't wait until the agency gets back to me. I need to know if they liked me!"

"Did you even tell your parents that you sent your portfolio to that modeling agency yet?" Mandy asked.

"Are you kidding? All they would tell me is that it would interfere with my school work and it would take away study time and blah blah blah. I don't know if I can ever tell them."

"Please don't worry about this right now. Just get some sleep," Lindsay pleaded.

"Sounds good," Elaina agreed.

Lindsay got Elaina a blanket, turned off the light, and went upstairs with Mandy. Elaina sighed and was out within five minutes.


	2. Here We Go Again

2

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Elaina woke up with the worst hangover she'd ever had in her entire drinking career. Remarkably, she remembered everything that happened last night perfectly. Not just what Mandy and Lindsay had told her, but actually doing it, which was ten times worse. Just thinking about it made Elaina groan and sit up on the couch she'd fallen asleep on. Lindsay was sitting in the loveseat across from Elaina reading Cosmo. She looked up and noticed Elaina awake.

"Well hey there! I thought you'd never wake up," Lindsay said, closing her magazine.

"Ugh. What time is it?" Elaina asked, looking around for her phone.

"Around 11 A.M. I've already showered and gone to the gym. You should really get a move on."

"How did it get that late?! I have to go!" Elaina said in a panic. She found her phone in the couch cushions and slipped her heels on from last night. "Thank you so much for everything, Linds! Bye!"

"But, Elaina-!"

Elaina was already out the door and into the driveway. The empty driveway. Elaina had completely forgotten. Her car was still on the street near the Jade Cafe. Wonderful.

Lindsay came out of the front door with her keys in hand. "C'mon, crazy. Get in." She opened the garage door and they hopped into the car.

They cruised through town in silence until Elaina remembered a question she'd been dying to ask.

"Wait, so, why were you and Mandy at that bar last night anyway?" Elaina asked.

"We were following Mandy's brother. He snuck out last night and we wanted to bust him. He went into the bar and we kind of lost him when we got inside. We were still looking for him when we saw you making a complete moron out of yourself," Lindsay explained, smirking.

Elaina groaned. "Yeah. Let's just not bring it up again."

"Whatever you say, Vodka Momma," Lindsay teased. Elaina gave her a look. "Okay, I'm done."

"Thank goodness."

They arrived at the Jade Cafe and Elaina retraced her steps to where her car was parked on the street. Or where it was _supposed_ to be parked. No, no, no! This couldn't be happening.

"Oh. My. God. Lindsay! The car's gone!" Elaina yelled frantically over her shoulder.

"What do you mean it's gone?" Lindsay said, catching up to Elaina and stopping beside her. They both looked at the empty parking space. "Are you sure it was here?"

"Positive."

Just to be sure, the two walked around the block and back to where they started. The car was no where in sight. Elaina sighed and walked to the middle of the road where she continued to lie down.

"What are you doing?" Lindsay asked, almost smiling.

"Well, I'm going to die anyway so I might as well get it over with," Elaina said.

"Oh stop being a drama queen. It probably got towed or something." Lindsay helped Elaina to her feet and led her back to the sidewalk. Lucky for them it was not a particularly busy street.

"Even better!" Elaina said sarcastically. "At least if it was stolen I could make up some story that I was told to get out of the car at gun point. My parents are going to kill me."

"Elaina, you can't do anything about it now. All you can really do is go home and wait for a call. In the meantime, you should probably think of a back up story to tell your parents. A good one." Lindsay grabbed Elaina's arm and pulled her toward her car.

Elaina couldn't think of anything else to do. The only thing that she still had control over was how she would break it to her parents, or at least what she would tell them. She decided that she was at the bookstore with Lindsay and we were there for so long that when we came out someone had hotwired her car and drove off with it. It was fool proof. They couldn't blame her for "studying" and it really wasn't her fault. And who knows? Maybe someone did hotwire her car. She had to find out sooner or later. Time to start calling around for towing companies.

Lindsay dropped Elaina off at home, wished her luck, then sped away. Elaina took a deep breath before opening the front door. She closed it as quietly as she could, hoping that no one would hear, then tip toed up the stairs to her room. She tore off her clothes from last night and left them on the floor, sighing with relief from the release of the tight fabric.

Elaina went through her drawers randomly picking clean clothes and marched into the bathroom to take a shower. She stayed in the shower as long as she possibly could, soaking up every moment of silence and solitude. Elaina must have rinsed and repeated at least six times before deciding that she might as well get out before she stripped her hair of whatever nutrients was left.

She dried herself off and put her hair up in a towel. She ended up wearing gray, loose shorts and an aqua V-neck.

After throwing her towels in the hamper, Elaina headed back into her room only to find her older sister, Christy, wearing Elaina's top and skinnies from the night before and examining herself in the corner full length mirror.

Christy turned around to face Elaina with a devilish smile as Elaina took a few steps toward her. "Cute. Where'd you get it?" Christy asked a little too sweetly.

The blonde girl stood tall with a messy bun on top of her head and the clothes she was wearing hung loosely from her hips and shoulders.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my room," Elaina said, grabbing the blue brush off her wooden bureau and sat on her bed, brushing her hair.

"Did you? Can't recall. I was probably too busy talking to Tyler about your little adventure last night." Christy pulled the top and bottoms off letting them fall to the floor and slipped on her own oversized Tshirt.

Elaina stopped brushing her hair to glare at her sister. "If you say a _word_ to mom and dad..."

"Oh I won't have to. This is a small town, Elaina. People see things. And they talk." Christy flashed an innocent smile and headed for the door.

"Nice T-shirt. Did Tyler give it to you?" Elaina asked, clearly knowing the answer.

Christy stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Elaina. Her calm condescending face never changed. "Isn't it adorable? Took forever to get your lip gloss stain off, though. Might want to be more careful in the future," Christy said then sauntered into the hall.

Trying not to let Christy's comment get to her that much, Elaina diverted her attention to French braiding her damp hair. Her efforts were in vain. Her mind wandered to the times her and Tyler had spent together. Granted none of it was all that romantic, but Elaina didn't care. She was just happy to be with him. That was a year ago when Elaina was fifteen and Tyler was seventeen. She missed his tan skin and his strong hugs...

Elaina shook that thought right out of her head. "Asshole," she whispered even though there was no one around to hear. Things weren't the way they used to be.

Elaina refused to think about Tyler anymore and focused her attention on the footsteps downstairs. They became more audible then stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Elaina Maria Wolfe, dining room! Now!" Elaina's father yelled angrily up to her.

"_They know. They know everything!"_ Elaina thought. Panic filled her and she felt her heart race.

Elaina's parent never used the dining room except for holidays and major discussions. Holidays were kind of ruined for the children since they could never get through one of those dinners without thinking back to the last hollering they had gotten. And she was definitely about to get one.

Elaina gathered herself and figured that this was inevitable. She had been pretty reckless last night and she knew it. She had to deal with the consequences as annoying as they were.

She finished her braid and took her sweet time getting to the dining room. Her father was at the head of the long, rectangular table. To his right, Mrs. Wolfe was seated unusually close to him, holding his arm. Christy was standing by the window with her back toward Elaina, whispering on the phone. When she realized Elaina had entered the room she quickly said goodbye and turned to smirk at Elaina.

"Have a seat, Elaina," Mr. Wolfe said, gesturing to the chair to the left of him.

Elaina took a few steps and sat in the chair directly across from her father, as far away from him as possible. Mr. Wolfe tightened his jaw, but let it go.

He folded his hands in front of him on the table and continued. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Okay, this was not helping. What exactly did they know? What should she be apologizing for? What if she said the wrong thing?

"What do you mean?" Elaina ventured cautiously.

Christy scoffed in the background. Elaina shot her a dirty look. Mr. Wolfe held up his hand to signal both girls to keep their mouths shut.

"I'm talking about why I had to call a tow truck to get your car back that was sitting outside a bar downtown," Mr. Wolfe said, folding his hands in front of him.

Elaina's mouth went dry. Her pulse quickened and her eyes glazed over. She hadn't felt this scared since the Tyler Thing. She didn't know what to say. She was caught. What would they do to her? They probably wouldn't tolerate another slip up on her part. Better start groveling now.

Elaina looked into her father's eyes. "Dad, I...I just..." Just then Elaina's eyes lit up. She remembered that there was a bakery across the street from the bar in a little plaza. Her savior.

"I just...wasn't thinking! I was in Shay's Bakery getting a muffin and coffee and I saw Lindsay there. We went to her house and I fell asleep. I totally forgot about the car. I'm sorry!" Elaina lied. She surprised herself at how well she could pull a story like that right out of her ass.

Her parents exchanged a look then turned back to Elaina. "Well..." her father started, carefully examining her. Elaina held her breath and tried to look as apologetic as possible. "That was still a very irresponsible thing to do; just leaving a very expensive car on the street near a hoodlum hangout!"

"I know. It won't happen again," Elaina said, maybe a little too quickly.

"And there is still the matter of mouthing off to your father then just taking off," her mother added. Great. They just had to pin _something_ on her.

"Ah yes." Mr. Wolfe paused again. Oh how Elaina just _loved_ dramatic pauses... "Two weeks. No new camera."

Elaina knew from experience that arguing would not get her anywhere but in deeper shit than she was already in. It could have been worse. _Pick your battles, Elaina_, she said to herself.

She let her nodded her head without and word and let her face become indifferent, not wanting to give her sister, who had the biggest smile on her face, the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. Still, Christie flashed a victorious smile.

"Well?" her father said. "Go get it!"

Elaina walked from the room, immediately feeling the weight of the tense atmosphere come off her shoulders. Bye-bye fabulous camera. She knew that she would never see that camera again. Most of the things Elaina got taken away from her had a strange way of never being seen again. She was sure that somewhere deep in Christie's closet there was a box of everything Elaina was missing collecting dust.

Elaina went to the garage where she found her long-lost car. She felt like kissing it. She opened the backseat door and grabbed her camera that was still in its box. She took as long as possible to walk back to the dining room, holding her camera close. This was so unfair. And she didn't even get to take _one_ picture with it! Elaina took a deep breath before she let herself get too melodramatic and reached the dining room. Before she rounded the corner, she stopped.

"I don't know. It would solve the majority of our issues, but I'm not sure if it's the right decision," Elaina overheard her mother say.

"Liz, we should seriously consider it. I called Floral Hill yesterday and they are going to send an informational package in the mail. We'll take a look and then decide," Michael said.

"Well I think it's a great idea," Christie chimed in.

Floral Hill?

Elaina heard enough. She proceeded into the room and slid the camera forcefully across the table, obviously with an attitude. She didn't even want to think about what they were talking about. _Take a guess_, the voice in her head urged.

"Okay, well, if that's it..." Elaina said standing up.

Her father nodded and shooed her away. Elaina ran up to her room, shut the door, and immediately went on her laptop to Google. She typed in "Floral Hill" in the search engine and clicked "search".

A few things came up:

_Come on in to Grandma's Floral Hill Floral Shop!_

Um...No. That probably wasn't it.

_Floral Hill Rehabilitation Clinic for Troubled Teens._

Ding ding ding! They wanted to send her away to...rehab? But why? Why now? If anything they should have sent her away when the whole Tyler Thing was going on. Not now!

But the point was they didn't want her around anymore. "It would solve the majority of our issues..." Elaina repeated her mother's words quietly. _Their_ issues? The point of putting someone in rehab is to help with _that person's_ issues. Not the other way around.

She found it funny that they wanted to send her away and they didn't even know the half of how messed up she was. If they did know, she would be on her way to a mental institution, not rehab.

But fine. If she was done for anyway, there was no stopping her from doing what she had been resisting for three months now. Elaina went into her desk drawer and lifted the false bottom she had made awhile back to pull out a jewelry box. She opened it and took out the razor that she hadn't laid eyes on for what seemed too long. She picked it up, threw the box on the ground, and just turned it over and over with her fingers. Did she really want to do this again? Her scars were just about to fade. Did she really want more?

But it would feel so good. That release. That instant gratification. A shiver of excitement went down her spine as she remembered what it was like. _Stop. You're better than this_, she tried to tell herself. But the call was so powerful. So enticing.

Maybe just one.

Elaina took a deep breath.

Just one.

She held the razor firm in her hand and ran it across the top of her inner wrist. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled. She knew how sick she was. Of course she did. But that's what an addiction was. Three months clean. That was something to be proud of. Right? Nothing to be ashamed of. Right?

It didn't matter. Not right now.


End file.
